Monday, September 22, 2008

Toldja

Personally, I give credit to Landon - he didn't play cute or go silent when I asked him about the topic. As has been his habit for a long time, he answered honestly.

As a reporter, I appreciate that and I'll certainly miss it when and if he leaves. Others, though, see another view.

From an email today:If the feelers are already out there for "Donovan to Europe" (meaning he doesn't need to put out the "I wanna move" sign) and he cannot move til the winter window, why is he risking distracting the team during its playoff run by publicizing this? And it's this very sort of personnel turnover, both player and coach, that has contributed to the Galaxy's decline to mediocrity.....by comparison, teams like Houston and NE get a coach and keep them, and then build a team of players willing to limit somewhat their salaries and ambitions for the greater good. Guys like DeRo who could play somewhere else higher profile for a lot more money.

With Edson Buddle coming on and Bryan Jordan looking like he could make an impact, Donovan's departure might help the team in other ways.

Freeing up that cap space, and getting the Galaxy out of a "must trade" situation would make it easier to a) have a balanced team, and b) make it easier to trade with other teams in the league without them asking for an arm and a leg.

Donovan has matured quite a bit, and I'm happy for him. Bruce is right though. He needs to be consistent.

In response to your e-mail, maybe part of it is that Donovan isn't getting feelers from the teams that he wants to go to (Spain, for example).

And, honestly, I don't see how Donovan's mentioning a possible move could be much of a distraction for the team at this point. There's no chance of his going anywhere before the end of the season, and there can't be much doubt that there will be changes at the end of the season.

I think part of the reason that Spain isn't showing interest in Donovan is that he's too much like the type of player they tend to have - small, but technical, good finisher, creative ability in the middle. Jozy, now, he caught the eye of a team from Spain because he's big and mobile, and a player like that isn't as often found in Spain.

If Ramon Calderon and Bernd Schuster have an ounce of risk-taking business acumen, they'd grab Donovan in the next transfer window. Real Madrid is quite weak at the "forward" position (I didn't say "striker") -- players who can score goals as well as create them -- with the departure of Robinho, the inconsistency of Robben, and the aging of Raul and Ruud. Schneijder, Guti, and van Der Waart still don't adequately replace the quality the team had with Zidane, so a creative forward like Donovan could bring a lot to the team.

By the standards of La Liga (esp. that of Real), Donovan would come cheap ($10M transfer fee at most), and the upside is huge. The guy has played in several international matches, has handled the pressure of being the most marked player on his squad, the most watched player in his country, and has shown that he could really shine in the company of world-class talent like Beckham.

If I'd be AEG I'd think twice about letting a extremley talented, american with plenty of history/succsess already (MLS and USMNT)go.

Ben7, AEG doesn't give a rodent's behind about Donovan. Trust me. He's too honest for AEG's "corporate" (read: dictatorial) culture. Read these quotes from the final exhibition last year against Hollywood United, in which Frank Yallop announced his resignation:

"Frank is probably the last one that should have gone," Donovan said. "He's been handcuffed all year. That's unfortunate for him. He's a damn good coach and he's been unable to show it."

Asked who handcuffed him, Donovan said: "You can figure it out. He wasn't allowed to be a coach. People were trying to make decisions for him."

People above (Galaxy president Alexi) Lalas? (The Galaxy is owned by sports entertainment conglomerate AEG)

"No," Donovan said. "I consider Frank a friend. As a professional, I feel sorry for him that he went through this because it's unfair. But as a person I'm glad he got away from this. Unless some things changed, he was never going to be given the real opportunity to be a coach."

Besides, AEG has put all its soccer eggs in the Beckham basket. Since AEG is more interested in profits than professionalism, AEG would be more than willing to let Donovan go for a big transfer fee.

Of course, if he goes, the Galaxy will be far worse next year than it was this year....